Separator



July 24, 1951 P. ERlcsoN 2,562,025

SEPARATOR y Filed nec. 22, 1945 IN VEN TOR. PAI/L 'WCSOM Patented July 24, 1951 aai-ENT waas salama@ Delaware aaa-lieti@ Hagenaar' '22, lati 'f @mi 1 This invention relates to an apparatus for separating mixture" ai' "I 'Ja'rtiales 'angl Huid primarily` c'cerhed'witli Vselarating"sc'ilid" arl" tiitsarrangiama mixture' f these 'partiies aaai-aw@ The present apparatus will be more particufloating' slag and ar basic' slag tends to forni a relatively' smaller amount ofl 'oating" slag, 'all' though either slag produces particles heavier than Waterr and lighter than water. The slag. Darticles and water must be separated before @isf posal as the 'slag particles cannot be permitted ha Het. but 0f the. 'tank with the water to the. sev er as Vthey will clog. the sewer. Attempts rammelen madero, separate the. SlagV particles to prot/ide an improvedapparatus for separating particlesl` from a mixture of such 'barticl'es'and 'Itis'a 'furtlji'er'fbject of this invention to proand easy disposalof.the'slag and water and that Arlcll'lires a relatively small amount of space.

rentontaiiiiiig wall.' I4' eitends'acjrosstrie tank between th hSde" Walls l2 and divides the tank iiitoj a slag;receiving pit i5k and' a drain 'pit is; Ther upper'isurface of bottom wall lI I-in'pit l5 is prtet'ed' 'against damage 'by a Afilurality of guard rails'l'slppr't'ed on bridgingmmbers I9.' 'Sim--v under' pressure." "oz'ae head 2aB' is so pbsi; tiond 'asLto diect"a"stream ofi coling'water' 28 against the stream ot slag 25. Some'o the vWater.

isfconyertel ta steam by the lieatof 'the slag.. "Ivhe 3 force of the relatively high-velocity water stream 28 and the generated steam break up the molten slag into relatively small particles and the stream of water and slag particles, schematically indicated at 30, falls into slag pit I5. Some of the slag particles arerelatively porousiand light as' a result of expansion by the steam formed when the water strikes the hot slag. These porous slag particles tend to Iioat on the water in pit I5 while`l the remaining slag particles, which are relatively dense, sink to the bottom of pit I5. Thus, the pit I5 contains water, relatively 'heavy slag particles into the pit may momentarily be so great as to cause a rise in the water level.

' The outlet opening 34 is placed above the inlet -Aopening 33 yso .that the iioating slag particles at the bottom of the pit and relatively light slag t.15 to rapidly drain away the water and separate and leave both the light and heavy slagpa'rticles in pit I5. The wall includes a plurality of rectangular drain passages 32 arranged in horizontal banks as shown more clearly'in Figures 2 and 3. Each passage 32 terminatesin an' inlet opening 33 andan outlet opening 34. Water in pit I5 iiows into passage 32 through inlet open-` ing 33 and out through opening Bilinto the drain pit I6 from which it iiows to the sewer or other disposal means.4 Each` passage 32'y is inclined up wardly from the inlet-opening to the outlet opening and-'the outlet opening 34 is preferably above and the inlet opening below a horizontal referencel plane for the reasons to be more fully'hereinafter described. As shown more clearly inthe enlarged fragmentaryA views of Figure 4, a screen 35 extends horizontally across each passage- 32- to-separate and prevent'the slag particles from owing out of pit I5 along with the water. Each screen comprises a vvire'net3i1` carried by a frame 3'Ifof; wood or other material and is horizontally slidably received by the horizontal bottom'portion of the outlet opening 34 and is horizontally slidably supported in a pair of horizontal slots 3'I presenting coplanar shoulders inthe `side walls of the passage 32. The screens 35 can be readily-removed for repair or other purposes and replaced. Y f

The water drained from pit I6 maybe disposed of in any suitable manner by means of anysuitable apparatus.r In the embodiment shown in the drawings, a walled l'sump 38 is provided on the outside of tank 'IIL A drainpipe 3,9 eX- tends through Wall I2 between drain pit'I6 fand sump 38 and is provided with a flow control valve 4I. fully hereinafter described when describingthe operation of the apparatus.' Thewater in sump 38 iiows through ua pipe 42 to .the sewer. y An overow pipe 43 is provided for pit I6y as a safety' feature. Pipes 43 and 39 are of such size that together they can drain away the largest'flow of water into pit I6. In the eventY pit yI6 becomes iilled with small slag particles, the'pit may be cleaned by means of a grab-bucket,V scoop or any other suitable apparatus. A drainpipe 44 The function of this valve 4I will be more having a cover screen 45 is provided in thebotf,

tom of wall I4 for draining any residual quantity of Water from pit I5 when desirable. The drainpipe 44 is not large enough to take care of more than a small fraction of the water flow into pit I5; Normally, the slag and water ,are intermittently discharged into the pit I5 While the slag is being tapped from the furnace. Pits I5 and I5 arenormally at least about a quarter full of'water before the slag starts to ow and valve 4I is in the closed position. vThis body of Water aids ini further cooling the slag.` After the stream of `slagand Water 30 starts to ow into the .pit I5, valve 4I --cannot be pulledinto passage 32 and packed against the screen 35 by the current. As the level of heavy slag particles in the bottom of the tank rises, the lower banks of passages 32 may become gradually iilled with the heavy slag particles which impede the flow of water so that the upper bank orbanksof passages 32 will have-the larger rate of flow. The -large number of passages 32 provide a relatively large .drain area and the velocity ofiiow is low which reduces packing of the heavy particles in the passages. opening 34 above inlet opening 33, the only floatingfparticles trapped by screen y35 are the small amounts yoiparticles floating on the body-oi` water inpassage 32 prior to the time the water4 levelrises to the top of inlet 33 and before, therel is any current through passage32. f When the molten slag has stopped running,

the pit by a grabbucket, scoop or othermeans.

Slag can bemoved fromthe vpit while the streamv 33 `is, flowing, though this is not the usual pro-; cedure. lowered, the slag particles in the passages-32 readily'fall away from the lower surface of the` screen 35 Yand fall'down the inclined bottom surface of thepassage into the pit; With thisv construction' and arrangement, the passages 32. are self-cleaning, but, if desirable, a stream of water from av hose or-other source can be directed through the'outlet opening 34 t'o flush off the screen andwash out the passage. f

`The present apparatus provides a means for separating slag particles from a mixture oflslag particles and water thatY functions ina highly desirable manner and requiresonly minimum of labor. i The drain passages do not become clogged by floating slag particlesand .thedrain passages are Y substantially self-cleaning.

I claim: l. Apparatus for separating a mixture of oatable and sinkable solid particles from a body of liquid `of varying depth comprising receptacle means-including a bottom wall and an upwardly extending sieve wall structure, a plurality of: drain passages for the liquid extending through theiwall Vstructure land terminating in inlet `and outlet openings, the inlet openings being disposed atk diierent heights in the wall structure, an'inclined bottom wall in each passage extending upwardly from the inlet opening to the outlet opening,l and a screen extending acrosseach passage and overhanging the inclined bottom Wallofzthe same whereby the particles stopped A by the screen on iiow of lquidthroug'h the pasand the corresponding inlet opening is located below V'a .horizontal reference plane intersecting' the passage.

With the outlet the water is turned off and the -slag removed-from- As the level or" the slag particles is,-

3. Apparatus according tc claim l in which the screens are disposed substantially horizontally.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which each outlet opening has ar straight horizontally disposed bottom portion, coplanar shoulders are associated with the walls of each passage adjacent the outlet opening, and the corresponding screens are slidably received .by the bottom .portion and supported by the shoulders.

5. Apparatus for separating a mixture of solidy particles and liquid comprising a receptacle including a bottom wall, side and end Walls, a separator wall extending across the receptacle from side wall to side wall intermediate the end walls to form a receiving pit for receiving the mixture of solid particles and liquid and a drain pit, a plurality of passages extending through the separator wall, each passage terminating in inlet and outlet openings, the inlet openings being disposed at different heights in the Wall structure and the outlet opening of each passage being located above andthe corresponding inlet opening being located below `a horizontal reference plane intersecting the passage, an inclined bottom wall in each passage extendincr upwardly from the inlet opening to the outlet opening, the

inlet openings communicating with the receive stopped by the screen on flow of liquid through` the passage can fall away from the screen to the bottom of the passage under the inuence of gravity.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the screen in each passage is disposed substantially horizontally.

'7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which each outlet opening has a straight horizontally disposed bottom portion, coplanar shoulders are associated with the side walls of each passage adjacent the outlet opening and the corresponding screens are slidably received by the bottom portion and supported by the shoulders.

PAUL ERICSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 397,585 Coplen Feb. 12, 1889 634,933 Mueller Oct. 17, 1899 744,193 Hammond Nov. 17, 1903 849,752 Sewell Apr. 9, 1907 866,626 Cook Sept. 24, 1907 952,620 Keyes Mar. 22, 1910 1,165,741 Amos Dec. 28, 1915 1,166,802 Albert et al Jan, 4, 1916 1,336,558 Darrow Apr. 13, 1920 1,757,187 Griffith May 6, 1930 2,248,665 Fisher July 8, 1941 2,364,472 Platt Dec. 5, 1944 '2,414,176 Smith et al Jan. 14, 1947 FOREIGNv PATENTS Number Country Date 582,953 Germany Aug. 25, 1933 

